TEHRAN – New Delhi’s Ambassador to Tehran Vishwesh Negi has highlighted the significant potential for Iran-India cooperation in traditional and modern medicine, pharmaceuticals and tourism, as well as in strengthening cultural and people-to-people ties.

He made the remarks in a brief interview with the Tehran Times on the sidelines of a ceremony hosted by the Indian Embassy in Tehran on September 23 to mark National Ayurveda Day.

Today’s ceremony to mark Ayurveda Day, brought together a number of Iranian physicians who shared views on the ancient Indian medicine system alongside views on the ancient Iranian medicine system. It was a fruitful gesture for promoting cultural heritage and exchanging ideas. Tell us about your embassy’s collaboration and efforts to promote other aspects of Indian heritage in Iran and plans for mutual cooperation.

Well, there are a lot of things we want to do with Iran at this point in time. We really want to establish Iran as one of the major centers where we can promote and practice wellness traditions such as the concept of yoga, what comes along with yoga, Ayurveda, and a very healthy way of living, I think.

And I think these systems are very relevant. They are very relevant in today’s world because our lives have become very complex. We get exposed to a lot of elements which are alien to our body and to our culture. So I think this kind of healing, or this kind of healthy lifestyle, which involves yoga, Ayurveda and homeopathy, can help moderate our body and enable us to have, at least, a mentally healthy lifestyle.

We intend to do a lot of activities in Iran in cooperation with the government of Iran, whatever the rules and regulations allow.

And I think one of my important missions out here, first of all, at this point in time, would be to look at how we can generate greater cooperation in the health sector.

You mentioned the health sector as an important area of cooperation. What are the areas where you see the greatest potential for expanding India-Iran health cooperation?

So today I was there; I went to Iran Pharma, the largest pharmaceutical exposition in Iran. There also, a lot of Indian companies had opened up their booths. So there is a lot of cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector between the two countries.

That is also something which can be scaled up a lot, given the geopolitical situation improves. InshaAllah, when things become better, I think there is huge potential for a large amount of pharmaceutical cooperation in terms of the export of APIs to Iran, training, technical expertise exchanges between health professionals in the two countries, and also looking at new forms of medicine, research and development.

You may be knowing that during the time of COVID, India had supplied 1 million doses of vaccines to Iran. That kind of cooperation suggests that there is trust between the two countries, and I think it all goes well.

So, as I said, there is huge potential in Ayurveda, in yoga and in conventional medicine.

But given the current circumstances, we are not able to realize the full potential. But inshaAllah, in time we will be able to.

What are your views on tourism relations between the two countries and ways to promote them?

Well, tourism, as I said, is something I have already spoken to a lot of Iranian policymakers about. The honorable Prime Minister of India has identified trade, tourism and technology as the three things we need to engage with friendly countries.

Tourism is an important sector for promotion. In recent years, the number of tourists going from Iran to India has come down a bit. It might be due to the geopolitical condition; it might be due to the economic condition. But we are very keen to bring it to the same level of tourism flows to India and even beyond.

So, we intend to take a lot of measures. We are looking at possibilities for relaxing the tourist visa regime, streamlining the processes, and rationalizing tourist visa fees so that Iranians have to pay less to go to India. We are also trying to familiarize them with a lot of activities.

A lot of institutions in India, like Ayurveda, can be one of the aspects that can promote tourism from Iran to India, along with modern education, arts and various art forms. And I think all these things, this whole cultural connect between the two countries, will eventually promote greater tourism flows from Iran to India, and I think similarly from India to Iran.

So, I think, as I said, there is huge potential. We are trying to understand the ecosystem of the tourism infrastructure and create infrastructure so that Iranians can travel to India as easily as possible.

AM